Resilient tensioning wire fabric



Jan. 16, 1934. A. A. G. LAND 1,943,445

RESILIENT TENSIONING WIRE FABRIC Filed Marc 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fatentecl Jan. 16, 1934 UNITED STATE sf PATENT OFFICE Claims Fabrics of this construction can. readily be manufactured with quite simple machines and at low cost in any desired width of the fabric; and also have the advantage over other, fabric constructions that each strand is effectively hinged to each of the strands between which it is disposed, so that the fabric canreadily be rolled up even when made of stiff wire.

However, the chain-link fabrics as heretofore in use cannot be longitudinally tensioned to any considerable degree-as when stretching such fabrics between widely spaced fence posts--- without distorting the shape of the meshes and contracting the fabric in width. Consequently, such fabrics have only been extensively used when it was permissible also to provide stiff rails or auxiliary wires extending longitudinally of framed by auxiliary stiffening members.

My present invention aims to provide a chain-- link wire.- fabric composed of strands having zigzag formations so formed as to afford interlinked portions longitudinally of the fabric,

which portions cooperate to form zigzag resilienttension mesh sides longitudinally of the fabric,

a chain-link wire fabric in which the number:

of the longitudinal rows of the resilient tension mesh sides or legs can readily be varied cues to afford varying degrees of strength and resiliency to-the fabric. 7

Furthermore, my invention aims to provideeasily manufactured and readily intertwined" constituent strands for chain-link Wire fabricsin which novel but simplesecondary formations impart an enhanced longitudinal. strength and" resiliency to the fabrics which may have por tions composed of ordinary form of meshes: and

aims to provide strand construction which will. readily permit the number and location ofthe the fabric at both edges of the'fabric', to which.- the fabric can be. attached so as to be entirely 1, with two long mesh sides having bent porresilient tension mesh sides to be varied according to the size and shape of the meshes and according to the. degree of strength and resiliency required in the fabric.

' Soalso my invention: aims to provide a resilient tensioning fabric construction. for chainlink wire fabrics, which canv be employed with equal facility and effectiveness in connection with meshes of widely varying shapes and sizes; and will. enhance, rather than detract from, the appearance of. the fabrics.-

Still further and also more detailed objects willappear from the following specification and from the accompanying. drawings, in which drawings Fig. I is an elevation of a portion of a wire fabric embodying my invention, in which each mesh has two resilient tension mesh sides.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion of my fabric same as that of Fig. l with different shaped resilient tension mesh sides.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of a. wire fabric embodying my invention in which rows of rigid tension mesh sides alternate with rows of. resilient tension. mesh sides.

Fig. 4- is an elevation of a mesh same as Fig.

tions. 7

a Fig. 5 is an. elevation. of an ordinary diamond mesh. of an chain-link wire fabric having the same object-excluding effect as that of Fig. 1, with dotted lines showing the distortion of the diamond mesh. by a longitudinal tensioning of the fabric.

Fig; 6 is an elevation of a triangular mesh of a chain-link: wire fabric showing two straight mesh sides forming the base of the triangle and which: form. rigid tensioning mesh legs.

Fig. 7 is a; horizontal section. taken on the line 7'7- of Fig. I and Fig. 3'.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic elevation of a portion. of a fabric embodying my invention, in which alternate strands have resilient tension mesh legs.

Fig- 9 is a diagrammatic elevation of a portionv of a fabric embodying my invention, in which the alternate short legs. of each strand are resilient tension mesh legs.

Fig. 10' is a diagrammatic: elevation of a portion of a fabric embodying. my invention, in which. ordinary diamond shaped meshes are used between the: longitudinal rows of resilient tensioning meshes.-

Fig. 11'. is a diagrammatic elevation of a portion of a 'fabric" embodying my invention, in.

which several rows of ordinary diamond-shaped meshes are used between the longitudinal rows of resilient tensioning meshes.

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic elevation of a portion of a fabric embodying my invention, in which the meshes are made of strands having multiples of bights at the side edges.

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic elevation of a portion of my fabric showing a few of the different designs of resilient tensioning meshes and a few of the ornamental effects that can be produced in my fabric.

In accomplishing the purposes of my invention I employ spiral strands transversely of the fabric intertwisted through each other to form rows of meshes longitudinally of the fabric which meshes have one or more short mesh sides or legs which impart strength to the fabric and which legs are made resilient by forming in them kinks or bent portions intermediate of the end bights. With the ordinary diamond-shaped meshes, as shown by Fig. 5, which meshes will exclude the same size objects as meshes of Fig. 1, as shown by the round object D, when the fabric is tensioned lengthwise of the fabric or in the direction W each mesh is distorted as shown by the dotted lines. If this mesh is made with two of the sides in alignment, as shown by mesh sides 19 of Fig. 6, these mesh sides form a continuous line longitudinally of the fabric which will be rigid when the fabric is tensioned in the direction of W, and when tensioned, these mesh legs 19 will lose their resiliency. Furthermore, these straight legs do not allow for expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature. I overcome the above objections by employing mesh shapes which have two long sides and two short sides with the short sides provided with bent portions so that these sides will retain the required resiliency in the fabric and will also take the longitudinal tensioning strains and thereby materially reduce the extent to which the meshes in my fabric can be distorted.

Illustrative of such a simple type of my wire fabric as shown in Fig. 1, I employ strands A and B, which are counterpart flattened spirals or zigzag strands, with alternate long and short legs with bights at the side edges as shown in Fig. 7, which strands are spirally assembled through each other transversely of the fabric or upright in Fig. 1. The left-hand strand A of Fig. 1 has short resilient tension legs 13 connected by bights 14 to the long legs 15, which are parallel and extend to opposite side edges of the strand, and which are connected by bights 16 to the short resilient tension legs 13. The resilient tensioning legs 13 have two kinks or bent portions 17 which impart resiliency to these legs. The angle X of these resilient tension mesh legs may vary, thereby increasing or decreasing the resiliency and strength of this fabric within a wide range; so also the resiliency may be varied by changing the size and number of the kinks or bent portions 17.

In assembling this fabric, strand B, which is a counterpart of strand A, is spirally twisted and advanced through strand A and reversed, and with the bights of the two strands interlocked they form rows of meshes transversely and longitudinally of the fabric. When such counterpart strands as described for strands A are spirally assembled through one another to interlock bights at one edge of each strand with the side edge bights of the adjacent strand they form rows of meshes transversely, and longitudinally of the fabric, which meshes are alternately upright and inverted in each longitudinal row, each mesh having four sides, two of which are long and two of which are short so that the fabric presents longitudinal rows of long zigzag mesh sides 15 and longitudinal rows of short zigzag mesh sides 13 which mesh sides 13 have bent portions 17. Also each two strands form a row of meshes extending longitudinally of the strands with each mesh having two long sides 15 and two short sides 13. The two long mesh sides 15 in each mesh are formed by adjacent strands and the two short mesh sides 13 in each mesh are formed by adjacent strands. Also, each mesh has a long side 15 and a short side 13 formed by the same strand.

However, while I have described the meshes of this fabric as having two short resilient tension mesh sides and two long straight mesh sides, I do not want to be limited to the form of these sides, as the mesh sides can be varied indefinitely and can be formed to produce quite an ornamental effect in the fabric, as shown by Fig. 4, which meshes are the same height and spread as the meshes of Fig. 1 and in which the bights are located at the corners of an imaginary four-sided figure as shown by dotted lines 26. Each of the strands of Fig. 4 is formed so that each long leg or mesh side 0 has a portion 27 connected by a bend to a portion 28, which portion extends parallel to the edge line K of the strand and has a bend 30 connecting it to a portion 29. With the mesh sides 0 so formed, when two consecutive strands are interwined to form meshes the bent portions 30 are bowed toward adjacent strands into adjacent meshes and cooperate tomaterially reduce the effective size of the mesh openings as shown by comparing the round object C, which is the maximum size object that will pass through these meshes, with the round object D which is the maximum size object that will pass through the meshes of Fig. 1.

Moreover, while I have described this fabric with longitudinal rows of meshes which have longitudinal rows of zigzag resilient tension mesh sides, each of which has two kinks, I do not want to be limited to the use of two such kinks, as one can be used as shown by 20 in Fig. 2.

The degree of resiliency can be changed by vary- 1 ing the degree of the angle R between the diverging portions 21. The meshes of Fig. 2 are in rows longitudinally of the fabric, each row having its meshes alternately upright and inverted, and each longitudinal row having two differently shaped meshes with the alternate meshes S having the same shape and the alternate meshes Z having the same shape.

Moreover, while I have described this fabric with meshes so formed that each longitudinal row of mesh sides consists of resilient tension mesh sides, I do not want to be limited to the use of these in every such row as these resilient tension mesh side rows may be alternated with longitudinal rows of rigid mesh sides as shown in Fig. 3, in which meshes E, which have two resilient tension mesh sides 21 alternate with meshes G, which have straight sides 22 aligning to form rigid mesh sides. With this arrangement of meshes the rows of resilient tension l mesh sides alternate with rows of rigid mesh sides.

Also, I do not want to be limited in the use of meshes of the same size or shape orto the spacing of the rows of resilient tension mesh lit sides, as many fabrics can be made, as for example, Fig. 10' shows a portion of my fabric in which each mesh series includes rows of resilient tension meshes H, each of which has two resilient tension mesh sides 23 and one row of four-sided meshes K, which have straight. sidesand are shown equal length but which meshes may be deltoid shaped or have unequal length sides. Also these sides may have bent portions or kinks.

Moreover, I do not want to be limited in the quantity or shape of mesh used in a series of meshes, as for example, Fig. 11 shows a portion of my fabric in which each series of mesh includes three longitudinal rows of four-sided meshes J with two rows of resilient tension meshes M. Also, I do not want to be limited to the use of two resilient tension mesh sides or legs in each'resilient tension mesh, or to the use of resilient tension legs in each strand, as for example, Fig. 8 shows a portion of my fabric in which alternate strands have resilient tension legs 24, while Fig. 9 shows a portion of my fabric in which each strand has resilient ten-- sion legs 25, but only in alternate short legs.

Moreover, I do not want to be limited as to the shape of the resilient tension legs or the shape of other legs of the meshes, as for example Fig. 13 shows a few of the ways these mesh sides can be formed. The right-hand row shows a few meshes in which quite ornamental effects are produced. Also, I do not want to be limited as to the shape of the spiral strands, as a large variety of these strands may be used, as for example the fabric as shown by Fig. 12 has meshes, each of which has six interlocked bights, which fabric is more fully described in my copending application, Serial No. 461,276, filed June 16, 1930.

While I have shown several forms of this fabric and mesh arrangement, I do not want to be limited as to the arrangements or number of mesh rows or series of mesh rows, or to the arrangement or location of the bent portions in .the resilient tension legs, as these bent portions may extend out of the general plane of the fabric, or to the details of construction or shapes of the mesh sides, since many changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the term mesh side or leg in the appended claims is used to designate the entire portion of a single strand which is interposed between any two consecutive bights of a strand; and that the term bight is used to designate the bends of the strands which are interlocked in the assembled fabric.

I claim as my invention:-

1. A chain-link type of wire fabric comprising zigzag flattened spiral strands extending transversely of the fabric and intertwined to form longitudinal rows of mesh; the strands so formed that the fabric presents longitudinal irows of zigzag mesh sides which are long and longitudinal rows of zigzag mesh sides that are shorter than the long sides, with each of the shorter mesh sides having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

2. A chain-link type of wire fabric comprising zigzag flattened spiral strands extending transversely of the fabric and intertwined to form longitudinal rows of mesh; the zigzag formation of the strands presenting long legs alternating with shorter legs so that the intertwined strands present longitudinal rows of long zigzag mesh sides'alternating' with longitudinal rows of zigzag mesh sides which are shorter than the long sides, with each of the shorter mesh sides having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

3-. A chain-link type of wire fabric comprising spirally intertwined zigzag strands extending transversely of the fabric forming rows of meshes longitudinally of the fabric; each strand including sections in which consecutive legs are long and short so that such strand sections in adjacent strands form longitudinal rows of meshes, each of which meshes has a long and a short side formed by a single strand and a long and a short side formed by an adjacent strand, with one of the two short sides of each such mesh having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

4. A chain-link type of wire fabric comprising spirally intertwined zigzag strands extending tranversely of the fabric forming rows of meshes longitudinally of the fabric; each strand including sections in which consecutive legs are long and short with each short leg having intermediate its ends a bent portion so that these sections in adjacent strands form longitudinal rows of meshes, each of which meshes has two short sides formed by adjacent strands and two long sides formed by adjacent strands, each short side having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

5. A chain-link type of wire fabric comprising zigzag strands extending transversely of the fabric and spirally intertwined to form rows of meshes extending longitudinally of the fabric, each of which meshes has a long and a short side formed by a single strand and a long and a short side formed by an adjacent strand, one of the short sides having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

6. A wire fabric comprising zigzag strands extending transversely of the fabric and consecutively intertwined so that each two consecutive strands border a row of meshes extending longitudinally of the strands, which row includes meshes having two long and two short sides and with each short side having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

7. A wire fabric comprising zigzag strands extending transversely of the fabric and consecutively intertwined so that each two consecutive strands border a row of meshes extending longitudinally of the strands, which row includes meshes having two long and two short sides with the short sides having intermediate their ends bent portions, and with each long side being provided with a bend bowed for a considerable distance toward the next strand to reduce the effective openings of meshes into which the said bends are bowed.

8. A chain-link type of wire fabric comprising consecutively intertwined zigzag strands extending transversely of the fabric, the zigzag formations in each two intertwined strands bordering meshes, and the zigzag formation i ii i in the constituent strands including sections in which consecutive legs are long and short with each short leg having intermediate its ends a bent portion, so that these sections in adjacent strands form'mesh rows extending longitudinally of the fabric and composed of meshes each having two mesh sides shorter than other mesh sides in the same mesh with each of the shorter mesh sides having intermediate its ends a bent portion.

fabric comprising a flattened spiral bent into a zigzag formation presenting legs of two different lengths, the zigzag formation being such that the strand includes a portion with a short leg, which short leg has intermediate its ends a bent portion, and also a long leg Which has intermediate its ends a bent portion bowed out of the general direction in which that leg extends.

ARTHUR A. G. LAND. 

